Happy

File Under: excited, but cautious

I met someone.

Flash back to August 31. Dan was whooshed back to Chicago from New Orleans, a couple days earlier than planned, thanks to Hurricane Gustav. Home and not fully partied-out, I met him, Luis and Polo at Jackhammer. I had been on a date. I went home, changed and went to the bar.

Typical night out with the guys. It was a holiday weekend so things were busy for a Sunday. They played pool, I watched and enjoyed a refreshing beverage. I made eye contact with a guy who looked a bit grumpy but I smiled and so did he. We exchanged a couple smiles, then the boys and I went downstairs. Somehow we ended up shirtless. A few minutes later I realized that the guy I had been smiling at was downstairs seated in the corner not too far from us. We exchanged smiles again. He seemed amused by Luis and Polo's antics (think 3 Stooges minus 1). I commented and he asked "How long have they been a couple?" Dan laughed, I explained that Luis belonged to Dan, that Polo was Luis' best friend, and I was Dan's best friend. We introduced ourselves, chatted a bit, then he left.

Three weeks later, I was at Jackhammer on a Saturday. I kept exchanging glances with a guy who I knew looked familiar but couldn't place the face. He came over, we chatted, he introduced himself as Matthew and said that we met downstairs with my drunk friends (wait 'til he realizes that's just how they act, even sober!). More important, he remembered my name. We chatted and laughed about the night we met and then he boldly asked "if I give you my number, would you call me so we can go for a drink or even dinner sometime?" I said "absolutely!" We exchanged numbers and then both went our ways.

We talked a couple days later, then made dinner plans for the following Friday. It went great.

We've chatted many times since, either by text or phone. We had dinner last Saturday. I made dessert and took it over to his place last night and we watched Desperate Housewives. We've got plans to cook dinner together on Friday.

I'm nervous. I'm excited. I'm happy.

So...we'll see.